Dennis Kucinich

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I first of all want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his encouragement of this idea. Our long running discussion about this has been very productive. I come before my colleagues today, Mr. Chairman, with an amendment, working with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews), to create a national clearinghouse for teaching entrepreneurship. The purpose is to establish a network for the efficient distribution of Federal resources in schools and having those resources distributed to schools and local educational agencies to teach entrepreneurship skills to junior high and high school students. The clearinghouse would coordinate professional development opportunities, collect and distribute materials and support activities which encourage teachers' interest in entrepreneurship education. The latest research shows there are about 4 million new businesses created in the U.S. each year, creating new jobs and new opportunities for new business activity for existing businesses. As a former small businessperson, I have experienced the challenges of starting and successfully operating a new enterprise. I believe that education and training in entrepreneurship skills will give junior high and high school students the basic knowledge of our economy, self-esteem and sense of individual opportunity that they need to excel in our modern high-tech economy. The multiple dimensions of entrepreneurship education will help to nurture an ethic of personal responsibility in our young people and expand the career opportunities available to them. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume to first say that my work on this amendment was inspired by the leadership of the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), who saw a very important moment in the history of the Kosovo conflict and rallied Members from both sides of the aisle to a higher level of participation, and I want to publicly thank him not only for supporting the amendment but also for his almost singular leadership in this House on behalf of peace. So I thank him for his support. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. McKinney). Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Chairman, I join my colleagues in commending the gentleman from Ohio for his amendment and for the wonderful work that was done during this period of crisis that we have recently faced. I want to lend my voice of support for the work that the gentleman does, his efforts on behalf of peace and on this amendment, and I thank him for introducing it.

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My amendment is a simple amendment. It is not a controversial amendment. It would commission the Secretary of State, after 1 year, to submit an independent study of the diplomatic initiatives undertaken by the United States and other parties involved in the Balkans. It would carefully examine the role of diplomacy in the Kosovo conflict in the Balkans. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time, but also want to thank the gentlewoman from Georgia for her support and for her participation and her efforts over the past year.

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I wish to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his thoughtful and analytical approach to this important question. I also want to thank him for his leadership on human rights, which has animated his support not only for this amendment but for his work in so many vital areas in this Congress. I am very pleased to have the support on both sides of the aisle. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule. This bill provides no debt relief for sub-Saharan African countries. It sets no requirements to use African labor. And it ignores the AIDS crisis in Africa. It grants extensive rights and benefits to multinational corporations operating in Africa but requires nothing of them with respect to workers and protection of the environment. Why should we support a rule that disallows dozens of amendments? Why should we support a rule that blocks amendments to strengthen labor protections? Why should we support a rule that stops amendments to protect against a flood of Chinese transhipped textiles? Why should we support a rule that blocks amendments to keep Americans working? Why should we support a rule that stops amendments to ensure that trade benefits accrue to African workers and African-owned businesses, not transplanted foreign workers and foreign-owned businesses? We need a better bill for Africa, and we can get a better bill for Africa. But the only way we get a better bill for Africa is to vote against this rule. NAFTA cost this country hundreds of thousands of jobs. It is too late right now to fix what happened when we passed NAFTA. It is too late to fix what happened when we passed GATT. We can fix this by sending this rule down.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, this bill is a bad deal for Africans and Americans. It extends NAFTA. What can we expect if H.R. 434, ``NAFTA for Africa'', passes? We can expect even lower wages. If the experience of Africa is like that of Mexico, wages will fall. That is precisely what happened in Mexico where wages fell about 20 percent when NAFTA was enacted. We can expect even more powerful multinational corporations. Africa knows this well already. One oil company ferries troops to fire upon civilians who exercise their democratic rights to protest for a cleaner environment and higher wages. We can expect ever-higher trade deficits. Before NAFTA, the U.S. had a trade surplus with Mexico. After NAFTA, the U.S. had a trade deficit with Mexico. Why? Because NAFTA gave incentives to American companies to close their plants in America and reopen them in Mexico, then export from Mexico to the U.S. the goods they used to make in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and in my State, Ohio. Some say it is not for us to decide. Well, it is only the Congress who can decide. If this is a first step, it is a first step in the wrong direction.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Mr. James Douglas Burger, of Fairview Park, Ohio, who graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy on June 25th, 1999. Mr. Burger was selected to be among the special few to attend the prestigious Academy to become a member of its 197th graduating class. The Academy's facilities and faculty are acknowledged as world leaders in law enforcement training. Its rigorous eleven week course provides one of the premier training programs and prepares its graduates for bright futures in law enforcement. The graduates of the FBI National Academy set the standard for integrity, commitment, and expertise throughout the law enforcement community. I am proud to have a member of my district join these elite few in protecting the borders of civilized society. My fellow colleagues, join me in recognizing Mr. Burger's achievement and we wish him much success in the future.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, the Exchange Stabilization Fund is being misused by Treasury to bail out foreign investment failures. When some aspects of corporate foreign investment policy fails, the Treasury taps the ESF to cover over the failure. Here is a recent example, Mr. Chairman. In Indonesia, the International Monetary Fund caused a run on Indonesian banks when it directed the closure of 16 banks there. A confidential internal IMF memo even acknowledged the failure. The IMF caused a panic by making a bad situation much worse. So what does this ``Foreign Investment Failure Fund'' do? Without congressional approval, Treasury dispatched a credit line of $3 billion to cover the mistake. NAFTA caused a flood of U.S. investors to abandon their investments in the U.S. for higher rates of return in Mexico. Then the already over-valued Mexican currency collapsed. Guess what? The ``Foreign Investment Failure Fund'' was used without congressional approval to cover the multi-billion dollar failure. Indeed, the ESF was used in this way because Congress refused to pass a $20 billion package to benefit the Mexican elite at the expense of the Mexican people. The use of the ESF by Treasury thwarted the will of the Congress. The ``Foreign Investment Failure Fund'' is used to accomplish policy changes that often make international financial problems worse. In Korea, important consumer and labor standards and regulations were overturned as conditions for $5 billion in ``Foreign Investment Failure'' funds from the U.S. Koreans now talk about ``IMF suicides'' to characterize the wave of suicide among jobless and hopeless Koreans. Korean labor unions are conducting massive protests and strikes. Without Congress' approval or involvement, global economic policy is being forged for the benefit of the few with the funds of the American people as leverage. This amendment will correct the abuses, but it will not tie Treasury's hands. If Treasury needs to stabilize another country's currency, it will be able to use the ESF to do so unilaterally and without Congress' approval. The amendment allows Treasury to do currency swaps and other currency stabilization aids without Congressional approval. But if Treasury is making a large loan to another country, they will have to come to Congress, which is the only appropriate process, given the American system of checks and balances. This amendment is nearly identical to one that Congress passed in 1995. Many of my fellow Democrats voted for that amendment then. Unfortunately, the authority of that provision lapsed in October of 1997. Today, we need to repeat our correct action. So long as the Exchange Stabilization Fund is used to extend credit or give loans to foreign nations without Congress' approval, these foreign investment failures will get larger and will become more frequent. More of the U.S. Treasury will be exposed to paper over them, benefit foreign elites, bail out big banks, and underwrite austerity, joblessness and hopelessness for the majority of people around the globe. Let us stabilize the power of Congress by voting yes on this amendment.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, for all Americans who are struggling with new telephone area codes, I have introduced a bill, H.R. 2439, to prevent the exhaustion of telephone numbers and save the economy about $150 billion in emergency remedial measures. If the rate at which new telephone area codes are being introduced continues, we may run out of area codes as soon as the year 2007. If that occurs, we would be forced to add one more digit to all U.S. phone numbers. The FCC and other reliable sources estimates that the cost to the economy of adding an extra digit to all telephone numbers and reprogramming all computer networks and databases to recognize the expanded numbering format could be as high as $150 billion, which is about the same cost as fixing the Y2K bug. But unlike the Y2K problem, the coming crisis in telephone number allocation is entirely preventable. My bill requires the telephone company to stop wasting potential telephone numbers. It promotes competition by ensuring that consumers can take their telephone numbers with them if they choose to switch carriers. It restores the ability of consumers to dial only seven digits and reach anyone in their area code. And it will save the economy $150 billion in unproductive emergency and preventable remedial action.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize The John Adams School Class of 1969 as they are to celebrate their 30 year reunion on August 21st, 1999. The reunion committee has worked hard and been highly successful in tracking the class of 1969, holding a database of 400 out of the original 521 students who attended John Adams in that year. An amazing feat when it is considered that the former students are scattered the length of the country from California to New York, including those who have remained in Cleveland, where they began their education. The John Adams High School, which opened in Cleveland in 1923, was unfortunately closed on June 13th 1995, making the reunion all the more important as a reminder of the exceptionally hard work done by the school staff in educating thousands of young people. In its seven and half decades, John Adams was a proud symbol of public education, an inspiration for many as a place were working class families sent their children to be educated in an environment rich in racial and cultural diversity. This proved to be decisive for many of the students of John Adams, lending them to use their experiences to motivate others. The class of 1969 were a good, cohesive group, a rich pool of talent that has created a group of highly successful and motivated individuals. Of particular inspiration to the group has been the dedicated work and commitment of their former principal, Mr. J. Robert Kline, an attendee at every reunion held by the Alumni Association, and a highly instrumental player in the success of every reunion held by the Alumni Association, and a highly instrumental player in the success of the class. My fellow colleagues, join me in saluting The John Adams High School Class of 1969 in their continual dedication to our community. They all benefited from their inspirational education in Cleveland and I am pleased to recognize their accomplishments.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Alina Dunaeva and David Johnson, two recent high school graduates who have worked diligently to improve their community. Alina and David are ending their terms as the leaders of the Tenth Congressional District Youth Congress, a group dedicated to making a difference for young people in the Cleveland area. This year, they lead members in following the group's mission to improve educational opportunities, community resources for students, and their environment, in part by holding a press conference about local levies and participating in a clean-up project on Cleveland's west side. In guiding this group through its first full school year, Alina and David have helped to build a forum for a diverse group of students to share their ideas and create constructive solutions to issues that are important to young people. My fellow colleagues, please join me in honoring Alina Dunaeva and David Johnson for their outstanding commitment to encouraging youth to become involved.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Jim Rucki, a basketball coach for 10 years and baseball coach for 13 seasons at Rocky River High School, home of the Pirates. Rucki capped his career at Rocky River High School by coaching his players to 22 wins this season and 20 victories last season thus leading them to their second consecutive state championship. Rocky River High School is the first Cleveland-area public school to make consecutive state-title game appearances since 1979. While a basketball coach, Rucki led his teams to 160 victories including two conference titles, two district championships, and nine sectional titles. After more than 13 wonderful years of coaching, Coach Jim Rucki has proved himself to be an outstanding coach who truly loves what he does. Not only is Coach Rucki an exceptional coach, he is also a modest one as well. Coach Rucki is known for saying that his players are the ones responsible for all the awards that he has earned. However, Coach Rucki also stresses hard work off the field. As part of the educational process of his players, he expects that his players earn good grades in all of their academic classes. He truly knows the importance of education in the development of a young person's character. Although Coach Rucki is moving, he will however continue to coach boys basketball, one of the sports he loves. Both his players and a very grateful community will deeply miss him and all of his hard work and we thank Coach Rucki for all that he has done. I ask you fellow colleagues to join with me and the community of Rocky River in congratulating Coach Jim Rucki on an excellent job throughout his coaching career.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Clint Nageotte of the Brooklyn High School baseball team. Clint Nageotte has been playing the game he loves from the Little League fields to the fields of Brooklyn High School. Rewriting the Brooklyn High School records, Clint has proved himself as both a remarkable pitcher and outstanding hitter. As a four-year letterman, Clint has 25 career victories, 326 strikeouts, 39 home runs, and 136 RBIs. Leading his conference championship team all the way to their first State Final Four playoff in school history, Clint has a hitting average of .652 with 19 home runs this year alone. As a pitcher, Clint has an outstanding 7-2 record and an impressive 0.75 earned run average. Also leading the area, he struck out 119 batters in 56 innings of pitching. Clint has been honored by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as The Player of the Year. Furthermore, Clint is a recipient of Mike Garcia Award, a very prestigious award given by the Cleveland Indians Baseball Club and the Wahoo Club. The Seattle Mariners have also chosen Clint in the fifth-round draft pick. Clint has proved himself both on and off the field as an excellent team player and outstanding young man. Recognized both locally and nationally, I ask you to please join me in congratulating both Clint and his family on a job well done.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, on June 24, 1999, I joined with Representative Cynthia A. McKinney, Representative Barbara Lee, and Representative John Conyers in hosting the sixth in a series of Congressional Teach-In sessions on the Crisis in Kosovo. If a lasting peace is to be achieved in the region, it is essential that we cultivate a consciousness of peace and actively search for creative solutions. We must construct a foundation for peace through negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy. Part of the dynamic of peace is a willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue, to listen to one another openly and to share our views in a constructive manner. I hope that these Teach-In sessions will contribute to this process by providing a forum for Members of Congress and the public to explore options for a peaceful resolutions. We will hear from a variety of speakers on different sides of the Kosovo situation. I will be introducing into the Congressional Record transcipts of their remarks and essays that shed light on the many dimensions of the crisis. This presentation is by Alistair Millar, program director and Washington Office Director of the Fourth Freedom Forum, an independent research organization that sponsors scholarly conferences, cultural programs and research fellowships to promote awareness of peace and security issues. Before joining the Forum, Mr. Millar was a Senior Analyst at the British American Security Information Council. He is a British citizen and has a Masters Degree in International Studies from the University of Leeds. Presentation (By Alistair Millar and David Cortright) A peace settlement, no matter how tenuous, has been reached and the war in Yugoslavia over Kosovo is now over. NATO's bombing campaign is being sold as a success, but the problems in the region--in part created by the destruction resulting from allied bombing raids--are far from over. The process of reconstruction, repatriation and rehabilitation is just beginning and will be hugely expensive. First we must be clear that this is a problem that does not only affect Kosovo and Serbia. The entire Euro-Atlantic region will suffer the consequences of this conflict for years to come. Regarding the Balkans area suffering the most acute impact of the war, the International Monetary Fund has identified a core group of six countries (Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Romania). In a recent analysis the Fund projected that in the best case scenario the total IMF financing for the region will cost $1.3 billion. The breakdown of the costs involved are detailed in the IMF study which looked at two scenarios. Economic output in the region has been reduced by an estimated five percent. This, in turn, will lead to a large trade imbalance--estimated at nearly $2 billion. The IMF study along with the United Nations interagency cost projections for the remainder of this calendar year are now available on the internet. http:// www.worldbank.org/ In Europe, the European Commission has estimated that the reconstruction of Kosovo alone will cost $18 billion. At the G-8 Summit in Cologne, European delegates were hinting strongly that the United States--which currently has a large budget surplus--should bear the brunt. The United States was responsible for 85 percent of the war damage, and it should pay a commensurate share of the reconstruction effort. Incidentally, EU countries have paid 60 percent of the reconstruction costs in Bosnia. As for the United States, President Clinton has noted that Washington did its share in providing two-thirds of the aircraft and all the cruise missiles for NATO's 78-day air war. At about $100 million a day, that comes to more than $7 billion. In a foreign aid bill approved last Thursday by the US Senate Appropraitions Committee, about $535 million is targeted for the Balkan region but none of it has been allocated for Serbia. It is vital that an agreement about who will pay is reached as soon as possible. Responsibility on the part of the United States for the destruction of Yugoslavia's infrastructure as a result of the US-led bombing campaign is an important first step. Considering the costs in human terms, rather than just purely as numbers would also help to focus attention on the severity of this problem. If you make a mess and don't have to clean it up, you aren't likely to think much about the consequences of making another mess in the future. Even while the initial assessments are being made, it is almost certain that the costs, not least the costs of maintaining an armed military or peace enforcement presence in the region, are going to increase sharply over short periods of time. One major additional expense will be the peacekeeping operation itself, both military and civilian. Given the extended period for which peace enforcement troops are likely to remain in place, some analysts argue that peacekeeping could prove even more expensive than the war. For example, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London has calculated that, with a projected K-For presence of about 50,000 troops, the bill could amount to as much as $25 billion a year. Increases in the costs of enforcing the Dayton peace accords and repatriating displaced refugees affected by the war in Bosnia also provides us with a relevant and recent example of the extent of the problem in Kosovo. The post- Dayton pricetag has increased enormously since 1995, and the enforcement of the civilian provisions of the accord has fallen woefully short of its stated goals, creating a multiethnic peaceful society. Currently, the Stabilization Force, or SFOR is still made up of 30,000 Troops; 6,900 are Americans. According to the record of the Military Operations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Limitation Act of 1999: The deployment of United States ground forces to participate in the peacekeeping operation in Bosnia, which has resulted in the expenditure of approximately $10,000,000,000 by United States taxpayers to date, which has already been extended past two previous withdrawal dates established by the Administration, and which shows no sign of ending in the near future, clearly argues that the costs and duration of a deployment of United States ground forces to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to halt the conflict and maintain the peace in the province of Kosovo will be much heavier and much longer than initially foreseen. As Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison recently pointed out ``We have tried an experimental Balkan policy in Bosnia. It is not workable. Thousands of American troops are there with no end in sight. The head of the international observer group has fired elected officials and canceled sessions of parliament because opposition parties oppose what we are doing in Kosovo. People vote in elections and then cannot stay and serve where they are elected.'' Unfortunately the history of the war in Bosnia is repeating itself in Kosovo. NATO officials are interpreting their defeat of Slobodan Milosevic as an important example for the future. The lesson they are drawing is that military force can effectively serve humanitarian purposes, and that NATO must be prepared to use its military might again. A new ``Clinton Doctrine'' is reportedly being developed in Washington to emphasize this point. Bombing and military force are being justified as legitimate means of preventing genocide and human rights abuse. The ground is thus being prepared for future bombing campaigns and military interventions, as NATO increasingly assumes the role of global policeman. There is another way. The use of military force was not necessary to resolve the crisis in Kosovo, and it need not serve as a primary basis for securing global peace in the future. More effective and less destructive means exist for exerting pressure on wrongdoers and encouraging international cooperation. The key to securing the peace in Kosovo and beyond is not military might but economic power. Through the judicious application of economic sanctions and incentives, coupled with support for early monitoring to prevent conflict from escalating into wars, the United States and its partners can more effectively enforce civilized standards of behavior and lay the foundations for cooperation and security, not only in Yugoslavia but around the world. History teaches that the greatest force on earth is not military might but economic power. Civilizations rise or fall more on the basis of their economic and social vitality than their military prowess. The Soviet Union was a military superpower but an economic weakling. When the underlying economic and social rot caught up with the military-political superstructure, the Potemkin village of Soviet power collapsed. The greatest strength of the United States lies not in bombers and missiles but in the extraordinary dynamism and creativity of its economy. Over the long run the power to give or withhold economic benefits is the most effective and creative way to influence human behavior. The use of economic power--providing inducements for cooperation, and applying sanctions against wrongdoing--offers the best hope for advancing the goals of peace, democracy, and human rights. Sanctions are often dismissed as ineffective, but a closer look reveals that they have been successful on a number of occasions, including in the Balkans. During the 1992-95 crisis in Bosnia, the U.N. Security Council imposed economic sanctions against Yugoslavia to encourage Serbian support for a negotiated settlement. An extensive system of sanctions monitoring and enforcement was established in cooperation with neighboring European states. These U.N. sanctions were described in a report from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as ``the single-most important reason for the government of Belgrade changing its policies and accepting a negotiated peace agreement.'' Military analyst Edward Luttwak has written that ``sanctions moderated the conduct of Belgrade's most immoderate leadership.'' While other factors contributed to the Dayton peace accords, including the Croatian-Bosnian military offensive of August/ September 1995, U.N. sanctions played a role in bringing the parties to the bargaining table. U.N. sanctions were employed again at the beginning of the Kosovo crisis, but the effort was half-hearted. In March 1998, as fighting in Kosovo intensified, the Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Yugoslavia. No effort was made to enforce the embargo, however, and no further steps were taken to increase sanctions pressure. Nor were efforts made to develop the kind of elaborate monitoring and enforcement machinery that was so effectively employed by the European community during the earlier episode. Sanctions could yet contribute to a resolution of the Kosovo crisis, as part of a package of inducements and coercive measures designed to enforce the terms of the peace agreement. Working through the U.N., the United States and its partners should bring to the table a credible package of sanctions and incentives to persuade the Serbs and Albanians to begin to resolve their differences and strive toward cooperation and reconciliation. The sanctions part of the package might include the threat to go beyond the present arms embargo to impose targeted sanctions against those who renege on their obligations under the peace settlement. Among the selective measures that might be applied are aviation and travel bans, the freezing of financial assets, and the blocking of government and leadership financial transactions. The prospect of a selective oil embargo, targeted against refined petroleum products, might also be part of a sanctions package. The incentives package might include the progressive lifting of sanctions, the encouragement of investment and trade, and a massive aid and reconstruction program for the region's battered infrastructure and crippled economy. Huge levels of humanitarian assistance will be needed for returning Kosovar refugees and vulnerable populations in Yugoslavia and surrounding countries. The delivery of economic assistance and development aid should be used to encourage compliance with the peace settlement and a greater commitment to democratization. Aid should be targeted to those constituencies and sectors which have a demonstrated commitment to democracy and human rights and which are most likely to support a long term process of conflict resolution and multi-ethnic cooperation. The delivery of aid should be conditioned on compliance with the peace settlement and should be delayed or suspended if the recipient groups balk or refuse to cooperate with one another in creating a new, more cooperative society. The promise of economic prosperity is a powerful incentive for encouraging democracy, human rights, and respect for the rule of law. The desire for participation in the European system of economic development and political cooperation is an especially strong inducement for many people in the Balkans. Even in Serbia political leaders have voiced a desire to be part of the European community. Some argue that the decision to exclude Yugoslavia from Europe in the late 1980s contributed to the breakup of the country and the consequent armed conflicts. Offering now to integrate the countries of the Balkans into the European system of prosperity and cooperative development could be an effective inducement for conflict resolution and prevention. This is the concept of ``association-exclusion,'' as opposed to the traditional ``compellence-deterrence'' approach embodied in NATO military policy. The greatest hope for a more cooperative future lies not in the power to punish, but in the creative use of association as a means of rewarding those who abide by civilized standards of behavior while excluding those who do not. Because the conflicts in the Balkans are interconnected, and the economies of the region were once closely linked, it is important to view the region as an integrated whole, and to develop an aid program that applies to the entire region. Economic assistance should be designed not only to rebuild war-related damage but to lay the foundations for future economic development and interdependence. Economic assistance should be offered not only to Kosovo but to Serbia, Albania, and all the republics of the region. By making an extra effort now to raise the economic and social standards of the entire region, the United States and its European partners can help to establish the conditions for cooperation in the future and thereby reduce the likelihood of renewed warfare. This in turn will hasten the day when NATO forces can safely leave the region. The United States and its allies have made an enormous military commitment to the region. Now they must make an even larger economic commitment to create the conditions for a lasting peace. The centerpiece of an economic strategy for peace should be a massive reconstruction and economic development program for the Balkans. The proposed assistance program should be on the scale of the Marshall Plan. At the end of World War II the victorious allies invested massively in rebuilding war-torn Europe and helped their former enemies recover economically and become functioning democracies. The strategy was a brilliant success that laid the foundation for European prosperity and cooperation and that has helped to secure the peace in Western Europe for more than 50 years. No less an effort is needed now to bring prosperity and security to Southeast Europe. The guiding vision of U.S. and European strategy should be to create prosperous, democratic, economically interdependent states throughout the Balkans--to build societies where people trade rather than invade, where commerce, communication, and interdependence gradually break down the animosities that have so often fueled armed conflict in the region. The price of a massive multi-year economic assistance and incentives package for the Balkans will be huge, but it is far less than the costs of indefinite military occupation or the losses that would occur in future wars and armed conflicts. The price of peace is surely less than the cost of war. Only through a long-term program of economic assistance and political engagement can the United States and its partners ensure that the war for human rights has truly been won.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, twenty-two years ago, the U.S. Congress voted to enact the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Since that time, the provisions of CRA have provided unparalleled economic opportunity in the poorest of our country's communities. In the inner-city neighborhoods of Cleveland, families are realizing the dream of homeownership, real estate markets are rising and small businesses are breathing new life into areas once redlined and hopeless. With the investments sparked by CRA, Cleveland has leveraged a higher quality of life in these neighborhoods and established a solid infrastructure to support economic growth throughout the area. It is estimated that CRA has resulted in investment commitments of $3.1 billion for community development efforts in Cleveland. Nationally, CRA has spurred investments totaling more than one trillion dollars in cities and rural areas across the country. Today, I urge my colleagues to continue our commitment to growth and stability in the underserved communities of America by protecting and strengthening CRA through the financial modernization legislation. In this time of great economic prosperity, it is our sacred trust to guarantee that hope and opportunity are extended to all Americans, in every community and in every neighborhood.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, on June 24, 1999, I joined with Representative Cynthia A. McKinney, Representative Barbara Lee, and Representative John Conyers in hosting the sixth in a series of Congressional Teach-In sessions on the Crisis in Kosovo. If a lasting peace is to be achieved in the region, it is essential that we cultivate a consciousness of peace and actively search for creative solutions. We must construct a foundation for peace through negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy. Part of the dynamic of peace is a willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue, to listen to one another openly and to share our views in a constructive manner. I hope that these Teach-In sessions will contribute to this process by providing a forum for Members of Congress and the public to explore options for a peaceful resolution. We will hear from a variety of speakers on different sides of the Kosovo situation. I will be introducing into the Congressional Record transcripts of their remarks and essays that shed light on the many dimensions of the crisis. This presentation is by Benjamin Slay, a senior economist at PlanEcon, Inc., a Washington-based economics consulting firm specializing in Russia, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. His work on the Balkans includes developing PlanEcon's macroeconomics model for the economy of Bosnia-Herzogovina, and serving as a consultant to a 1995 Aspen Institute project on economic development after the Dayton accord Dr. Slay received his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1989. He has held faculty positions at Middlebury College, Bates College, George Mason University, and the State Department's National Foreign Affairs Training Center. The Balkan Economies: The Impact on Kosovo \1\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ This text is adapted from Chris Kushlis and Ben Slay, ``Overview'', in PlanEcon Review and Outlook for Eastern Europe, June 1999, PlanEcon Inc., Washington D.C. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Dr. Ben Slay \2\) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \2\ Senior Economist, PlanEcon, Inc., 1111 14th Street N.W., Suite 801, Washington, D.C., 20005-5603. Phone: (202) 898- 0471. Fax: (202) 898-0445. E-mail: bslay@planecon.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- How Bad is the Damage? Economic developments in the Balkans since late March have been dominated by the Kosovo conflict. Yugoslavia's already fragile economy has been devasted by the NATO bombing. The exodus from Kosovo has burdened neighboring economies with hundreds of thousands of refugees. Transit routes have been closed, tourism and trade have fallen off, and investment projects have been put on hold or cancelled. Footnotes appear at end of article Estimates of the Kosovo war's economic costs vary widely, with figures ranging from $20 billion to $100 billion. The latter figure is nonsensical as aggregate GDP in region does not come close to this sum. Moreover, the region's economic problems can not be blamed solely, or even largely on the war. The fighting has instead provided a convenient excuse for politicians and seeking to divert attention from the deeper structural and policy problems that have constrained growth throughout the region. Only Hungary, Albania, and Bosnia continue to grow strongly: the other Balkan economies are either in or headed toward sharp slowdowns caused by weak export demand or the failure to pursue ambitious domestic reforms. For this latter group, the war only added to pre- existing difficulties. In assessing the damage directly attributable to the war, the region's economies can be placed into five categories: The direct hit: Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav economy is in catastrophic shape. Infrastructure, particularly bridges, railroads, and the telecommunications network were all damaged or destroyed by the bombing. NATO also inflicted serious damage on the decrepit, albeit functioning, Serb industrial base, with oil refineries, heavy machinery plants, and tobacco factories especially hard hit. Kosovo is completely devastated: a major reconstruction effort will be necessary just to house returning refugees. This is the second economic disaster to hit Yugoslavia in this decade: the economic sanctions and hyperinflation of the early 1990s had already practically halved economic output. The Milosevic regime has done almost nothing to help. The economy is a largely unrestuctured kleptocracy, where leading economic actors engage in rent-seeking activities made possible by regulations drawn up for their benefit by the Milosevic regime. After a recovery phase lasting until 1997, economic growth had already tapered off substantially in 1998 before the outbreak of the Kosovo conflict. By early 1999 the economy was clearly headed for a sharp correction. With large-scale Western aid tied to Milosevic's fate, Yugoslavia's second crack at recovery looks just as unpromising as the first. Serbs will be digging themselves out from under the ruble of the Milosevic ear for years, if not decades, to come. The front-line states: Albania and Macedonia. These two states absorbed the full shock of the refugee influx. While Albania took in almost twice as many refugees as Macedonia (450,000 compared to 250,000), Macedonia suffered greater economic dislocation. Whereas Albania exported almost nothing to Yugoslavia, half of Macedonia's exports went to or through Belgrade. Macedonia is also more concerned over lost tourism and foreign investment this year. By contrast, since over 60 percent of its GDP originates in the agricultural sector (which has a large subsistence component), Albania tends to be more insulated against external shocks than the rest of the region. We therefore estimate that the conflict will only reduce Albania's GDP growth by 2-3 percent this year. It will, however, knock 7-8 percentage points off Macedonia's GDP growth, thereby pushing Macedonia into recession. Collateral damage: Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnia's Serb half is closely integrated with the Yugoslav economy and as a result suffered heavily from the war: exports from the Republika Srpska went almost entirely to Yugoslavia and have since March dropped to almost nothing. Bosnia also accepted 70,000 refugees (both Albanian and Serb), further swelling the numbers of refugees in the country. While we see Bosnian growth slowing this year from 21 percent, this must be viewed in the context of Bosnia's post-war recovery process. Annual growth rates above 20 percent are unsustainable as Bosnia's recovery matures; and problems like falling Croat demand for Bosnian exports are also driving growth down. A new tariff regime with Yugoslavia, and Yugoslav payment difficulties, were already cutting into first-quarter Bosnian exports and growth. For these reasons only half of the 7-percentage point slowdown can be directly attributable to the war. The main engine for Bosnia's growth continues to be the massive international assistance program. Shell-shocked: Bulgaria and Croatia. Bulgaria and Croatia bore almost none of the refugee burden (each took in about 5,000 refugees), and both countries conduct only a small share of their trade with Yugoslavia (about 2 percent of total exports for Bulgaria, 0.4 percent for Croatia). Bulgaria and Croatia nonetheless find themselves in a precarious position in the aftermath of the crisis. The war cut into exports from both; for Bulgaria this involved the extra costs of rerouting transit trade; for Croatia it affected trade with Bosnia and destinations further south. Reductions in tourist revenues and foreign investment are a greater concern, as these inflows reduce current account deficits and boost tax revenues. Still, both economies were already suffering from their own difficulties before the bombing began: Bulgaria's exports and growth were down sharply due to slow industrial restructuring; while Croatia's economy slowed in the last quarter of 1998 and remained weak up to the outbreak of the war. In both countries the war will cost about 1-2 percent of GDP growth this year, as the growth slowdown is attributable primarily to domestic factors. The near misses: Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia. Of the Balkan countries crying wolf, Romania is crying the loudest. Romania suffered only marginally from the Kosovo war; and even these losses may have been more than covered by IMF assistance. Romanian losses were largely confined to the 1.3 percent of exports heading to Yugoslavia, and to Danube shipping. Most of Romania's economic problems are domestic in nature. Slovenia is not even trying use the Kosovo crisis as cover for its slowdown in growth. With two-thirds of its exports heading to the EU, Slovenia is less vulnerable than most to trouble in the Balkans; however, it is vulnerable to weak European demand. Likewise, Slovenia's exports to Croatia began to fall before the bombing started, due to Croatia's internal economic weakness. The war has apparently cut into spring tourism, but this should have only a marginal effect on Slovenia's tiny and very manageable current account deficit. The Hungarian economy continues to grow despite the problems on its southern border. In addition to a possible loss of tourism revenues, the main concern for Hungary is the possible effect on its burgeoning current account deficit of lower exports to the Balkans and reductions in its transit surplus as water, trucking, and rail traffic through Serbia has halted. Although these effects pose an element of downside risk to the economy, we expect their impact to be marginal. A New Era for the Balkans? With an end to the conflict at hand, the international community appears to be focused on stabilizing the Balkans for the foreseeable future. Ideally, this commitment includes a strong military presence, substantial reconstruction aid, and firmer promises for integration into the EU. It should be matched by a rededication on the part of regional governments to the policy reforms needed for sustainable medium-term economic growth. The first order of business will be post-conflict assistance for Kosovo. As Kosovars leave refugee camps in Albania and Macedonia to return to Kosovo, Western governments and international agencies are facing the immediate problems of providing humanitarian assistance to these returning refugees. To some extent, programs for refugees should not be much more expensive than the assistance delivered to the Albanian and Macedonian refugee camps, since, food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and security should be provided for the refugees irrespective of location. However, NATO will have to create the logistical systems needed to move these supplies from current refugee camps to Kosovo proper, probably without assistance from the Yugoslav authorities or Yugoslav transport systems. This will mean a road construction program connecting Albania to Kosovo and rebuilding bridges and roads in Kosovo. Interim refugee camps may also have to be created in Kosovo until housing is rebuilt. However, as long as Kosovars feel physically secure, these camps could be kept small and in close proximity to the former villages. The second stage involves the reconstruction of Kosovo. As refugees return to Kosovo, assistance programs will need to concentrate on moving them to permanent shelters as soon as possible. International aid agencies have had substantial experience in resettling refugee populations. The accepted wisdom appears to be that building materials, seeds, tools and implements, and other such items should be provided gratis, while refugees themselves can be relied upon to rebuild their homes and begin farming or businesses again. In the third stage, assistance will be channeled to economic development. If all goes smoothly, after several months, the Kosovo economy will begin to normalize, and policymakers will have to think about helping this economy develop for the long term. This development can be partly financed by remittances. Indeed, the Kosovo economy during the past two decades has been a rentier economy, as Kosovars working abroad have repatriated funds. Still, most of the funds for economic development will have to come from governments and international agencies; the initial emphasis is likely to be on creating an infrastructure to foster local businesses. The first priority should be to establish decent transport links through countries other than Serbia. This will involve creating all-weather road links to Albania as well as upgrading road crossings into Macedonia. Policy makers may also wish to set up credit programs for small businesses. Because Kosovo remains heavily agricultural, aid can be useful targeted at improving agricultural techniques and supplying better quality agricultural inputs such as seeds and plant protection agents. Subsidies to restart larger Kosovar enterprises will probably be wasted, unless advance work has determined which companies are likely to be economically viable. Kosovo is unlikely to be a center of large-scale industrial activity under any scenario. It is likely to remain dependent on agriculture, worker remittances, and a few larger plants and mines, such as the lignite mines near Pristina. Aid programs will need to be carefully monitored so that they do not attempt to support activities that in the long run are not financially viable. In any case, external assistance for Kosovo is likely to be a poor substitute for economic reform and international economic integration, both within the Balkans and with the

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to and recognize Dr. Robert C. Frymier, M.D. for his 35 years of dedicated service to the Department of Veterans. Dr. Frymier is a very distinguished and awe-inspiring psychiatrist. Dr. Frymier received his A.B. from Miami University of Ohio and M.D. from Ohio State University College of Medicine. Since then, his credentials and honors have been noteworthy and extensive. Since entering the Veterans Affairs system, Dr. Frymier has improved the quality of care to veterans through his own practice, education and active involvement in the local and national levels. He was the innovator of several techniques in teaching therapeutic skills, such as closed-circuit television for teaching and video-based stimulation of doctor/patient encounters. In 1975, Dr. Frymier was appointed as the first Associate Chief of Staff/Education at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. While there, he greatly improved educational efforts by creating educational conference space with state-of-the-art capacity. He also established an Education Committee, representative of all VA staff. Dr. Frymier has contributed to the local Cleveland community. In 1979, he established the Regional Medical Education Center and was then named its Director. He served as the Psychiatric Consultant for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Ohio for the past 25 years, Psychiatric Consultant to the Cuyahoga and Huron Counties Courts of Common Pleas, and served on the boards of Florence Crittenton Services Groups homes for Troubled Teens and the Shaker Youth Center for Chemical Substance Abuse. His professional Honoraries include, but are not limited to, Cleveland Psychiatric Society, American Psychiatric Association, Ohio Psychiatric Association, and Association of Academic Psychiatry. My fellow colleagues, join me in honoring Dr. Robert C. Frymier, M.D. for his 35 years of excellent service to Veteran Affairs as well as to the medical community.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Richard W. Pogue for his outstanding dedication and contribution to public service in Greater Cleveland. Today, Richard joins a select group of individuals by being saluted with the ``In Tribute to the Public Service'' Award. Mr. Pogue is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts and received a BA from Cornell University and a JD from the University of Michigan. Over the years, Pogue has used his expertise and time in a variety of ways. He has been actively involved in the business, education, social services, nonprofit and cultural sectors of our Cleveland community. Pogue has served in a wide array of organizations, including The Cleveland Foundation, University Hospitals Health System, the Greater Roundtable, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland Bicentennial Commission (Co-chair), and the 1989 Untied Way Cleveland Campaign, which raised about $52,000,000. In addition, he is the principal organizer of an innovative organization: the Northeast Ohio Regional Business Coalition. As if this was not enough, he currently serves as a Director of Continental Airlines, Inc. (Houston), Derlan Industries Limited (Toronto), M.A. Hanna Company, IT Group, Inc. (Pittsburgh), KeyCorp, LAI Worldwide Inc. (New York City), Rotek incorporated (Aurora) and TRW Inc. Mr. Pogue's commitment and dedication has not gone unnoticed. Pogue is also recipient of the ``Humanitarian Award'' from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the ``Excellence in Philanthropy Award'' from the Ohio Council of Fund Raising Executives, ``Economic Development Leadership Award'' from the Council for Urban Economic Development, and ``Man of the Year'' by Plymouth Church of Shaker Heights, just to name a few. My fellow colleagues, join me in saluting Richard W. Pogue for his continual commitment to our community. He is a renowned citizen of Cleveland and I am pleased to recognize his accomplishments.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the winner of the Plain Dealer Cuyahoga County Spelling Bee, Mr. Daniel Joslyn. Daniel Joslyn is an extraordinary student at North Olmsted Middle School. He is very dedicated to his school work and it shows through this accomplishment. Daniel is the first North Olmsted Middle School student to win this competition in its twenty year history. The National Spelling Bee is a wonderful program that motivates students to focus on the fundamentals of their education. It is a remarkable achievement for this young man to receive such an honor and to represent his school at the national level. I would ask my fellow colleagues to join me in honoring young Daniel for his accomplishment and wishing him luck in his future endeavors.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the participants in the Huff-N-Puffers senior citizen baseball league. This is a wonderful organization that provides and promotes physical activity for seniors. This is a great way for seniors to get together to socialize and partake in aerobic activities. The Huff-N-Puffers is open to anybody who is over the age of 65. This program was started in 1985 and has more than doubled in size since that time. These senior citizens participate in many games and tournaments around the country as well as a championship tournament at the end of each season. They have a very busy schedule consisting of around 20 games against other teams in their league. These seniors are an inspiration to us all by getting the best out of what life has to offer. My fellow colleagues please join me in honoring the dedication of these outstanding athletes.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, on June 10, 1999, I joined with Representative Cynthia A. McKinney, Representative Barbara Lee, and Representative John Conyers in hosting the fifth in a series of Congressional Teach-In sessions on the Crisis in Kosovo. If a lasting peace is to be achieved in the region, it is essential that we cultivate a consciousness of peace and actively search for creative solutions. We must construct a foundation for peace through negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy. Part of the dynamic of peace is a willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue, to listen to one another openly and to share our views in a constructive manner. I hope that these Teach-In sessions will contribute to this process by providing a forum for Members of Congress and the public to explore options for a peaceful resolution. We will hear from a variety of speakers on different sides of the Kosovo situation. I will be introducing into the Congressional Record transcripts of their remarks and essays that shed light on the many dimensions of the crisis. The presentation is by Christopher Simpson, an associate professor specializing in national security, new media and the psychological warfare at American University School of Communication here in Washington. He is the author of four books on international human rights law, genocide and national security, including The Splendid Blond Beast (1993) and the Science of Coercion (1994). His work has won many awards including the National Jewish Book Award, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Prize, the Cavior Prize for Literature and the 1997 Freedom Award. Presentation by Christopher Simpson, American University Thank you for inviting me to this briefing, and thanks especially to Rep. Dennis Kucinich for his leadership in these issues. I'm going to discuss three main ideas. First, I'll look briefly at the most basic principles of international law concerning war. Second, I'll bring forward new information on what is known as ``infrastructure warfare,'' which is today central to the way that the United States and NATO choose targets for aerial attacks. Bombing and cruise missile attacks, as you know, have been the primary U.S. strategy in Yugoslavia and in the on-going, de facto war with Iraq. In Yugoslavia, infrastructure warfare targets have thus far included the electrical power generation and distribution grid for the entire country; sewage treatment and water purification plants in at least three cities (and the destruction of those plants, by the way, affects not only those cities, but everyone downstream from the city as well); natural gas pipelines and pumping stations; the Yugoslav federal reserve; and purely economic targets of no military consequence in towns and villages that have no military barracks, storage facilities or any other known military significance. This leads me to my third point. ``Infrastructure warfare'' has become in part a means of making war on Yugoslavia's civilian population. In many cases it has had a minor or negligible military effect compared to the damage it has done to civilians. As such, these tactics skate very close to becoming a war crimes under international treaties and the United States military's own definitions of such crimes. In fact, a recent U.S. presidential commission defined the intentional destruction of urban infrastructures such as electrical power grids, water treatment plants and banking networks as a form of criminal ``terrorism''--that's their word--if used against U.S. cities.\1\ See footnotes at end of article. This is called ``terrorism'' at home and is presently being used by the administration to create or expand repressive federal laws authorizing political surveillance of people in the United States, particularly those who use computer networks. But interestingly enough, the Defense Department's representative on that presidential commission has been simultaneously engaged in designing U.S. Air Force offensive tactics for destroying precisely the same type of targets abroad.\2\ When one compares the U.S. government's various definitions of infrastructure warfare side by side, we find that criminal ``terrorists'' use car bombs to attack the basic urban services necessary to sustain life and maintain order, while the U.S. Air Force prefers to strike the identical types of targets with cruise missiles and bombs dropped from B-52's. Not surprisingly, the Air Force generally does a more thorough and devastating job in eliminating its target. The most basic principle of international law concerning warfare is to separate non-combatant civilians from the punishment of war to the greatest extent possible, taking into account what are termed legitimate military objectives. This is much easier said than done, of course. Nevertheless, the United States, all the NATO states, Yugoslavia, Russia and more than 100 other nations all agree, at least on paper, that making war on civilians is in almost every circumstances a prima facie war crime. This includes, by the way, aerial attacks on civilian economic centers carried out with the aim of undermining civilian morale or inducing a country to overthrow an established government.\3\ These elementary principles are codified with increasing specificity in the Hague Convention of 1907, the United Nations charter, the 1949 Geneva conventions, the unanimously adopted UN resolution on Respect for Human Rights in Armed Conflict of 1969 (Resolution 2444), similar protocols adopted in 1977 and, not least, in the on-paper rules of the U.S. Air Force itself.\4\ Today, NATO representatives often speak of what they term the relatively low degree of ``collateral damage'' to civilians caused by modern bombing and cruise missile attacks on Yugoslavia. Those claims should be disputed. But we should also recognize that NATO representatives use the collateral damage argument to obscure the more telling point, which are tactics and target selection practices that are clearly on the record. Wanton destruction of non-- combatant civilians or their ability to sustain life is a prima facie war crime, and NATO knows it. Let me give you an example. Virtually all experts agree that intentionally poisoning civilian water wells or food processing centers is in most circumstances a war crime. Poisoning a farmer's well may kill or incapacitate a dozen or more people. Yet the infrastructure warfare tactic of destroying sewage treatment plants in Baghdad or Belgrade spreads disease to thousands or even tens of thousands of people at a time, and is apparently intended to do so because the results of destroying such plants are well known. Most of the Western news media, the Pentagon and much of the U.S. Congress refuse to come to grips with the reality that this tactic poisons civilian water supplies, spreads cholera and helps spread other epidemic diseases, and is particularly dangerous to civilian children and the elderly, whose death rate increases dramatically in the wake of such attacks. The journal Foreign Affairs--which is certainly not a hotbed of radicalism--reports in its current issue that the destruction of water works in Baghdad combined with on-going sanctions has--quoting now--``contributed to hundreds of thousands of [civilian] deaths. By 1998 Iraqi infant mortality had reportedly risen from the pre-Gulf War rate of 3.7 percent to 12 percent. Inadequate food and medical supplies, as well as breakdowns in sewage and sanitation systems and in the electrical power systems needed to run them, reportedly cause an increase of 40,000 deaths annually of children under the age of five and of 50,000 deaths annually of older Iraqis.'' \5\ Nevertheless, this infrastructure warfare tactic remains widely used today when NATO selects targets in Yugoslavian cities.\6\ Another example. Intentionally bombing a hospital is almost certainly a war crime, and everyone knows it. Yet bringing down the electrical grid of any city produces an identical result at all of the hospitals in a city, without physically hitting the hospital buildings. The hospital refrigerators that hold medicine fail, destroying antibiotic drugs, vaccines and other medicines; soon it becomes impossible to sterilize surgical tools; bedridden patients die without clean water to drink or, for that matter, without clean water for the staff to use to wash the floors. That's because hospitals can rapidly become vectors for spreading disease if they are not kept clean. The city's hospitals have been effectively damaged just as surely as if they had been directly bombed. In fact, considering what has taken place in Baghdad in the eight years since the Gulf War took place, it may take considerably longer to return such hospitals to safe operation. As with any issue in international law, things are often more complicated than they seem at first. NATO's military rationale for the destruction of Belgrade's or Novi Sad's infrastructure is that the attacks degrade the Milosevic government's ability to wage its own war against civilians in Kosovo, and they are therefore legitimate military targets. Preventing Yugoslav military and paramilitary atrocities in Kosovo, in turn, provide NATO's legal justification for what would otherwise be a transparently illegal attack on a sovereign state. If past experience is a guide, it is unlikely that NATO commanders responsible for these attacks will ever be regarded as anything other than heroes in the Western news media. Yet Congress should look very closely at such claims. First, the mere fact that something might be a military target does not provide legal grounds for destroying it. Even the destruction of infrastructure in Belgrade, which is ostensibly the seat of the Milosevic government, has produced few military results compared to the damage it has wrecked on purely civilian activities. That is because most of the national security apparatus of the Milosevic government dispersed from the capitol city well before the bombing began. Such dispersal of key security assets is a well established contingency for virtually every modern military power, including the United States. I'd like to conclude with these remarks. I hope that some of you will point out that it is all well and good to oppose the NATO bombing campaign. But what about the other atrocities, including massacres of Albanian men killed by certain Yugoslav military units and paramilitary organizations? What about the mass deportations of civilians from Kosovo and the examples of gang rapes of Albanian refugee women? How do you propose to stop those crimes? First of all, there is no sound-bite solution to the crisis in the Balkans, no matter what Madeline Albright may say on the Sunday morning talk shows. People who say they have a simple solution are either ignorant or attempting to deceive you. Second, the cease fire plan announced today should be welcome news for all people of good will. But once the euphoria has passed, we will see exactly how difficult it will be to make a just peace work. Regardless of whether the cease fire holds, the NATO bombing campaign has made stabilization of the Balkan conflict significantly more difficult for years to come. It is also transparently clear that the primary victims of NATO's intervention have been those whom NATO was purportedly attempting to assist. NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark once told reporters that the mass deportations from Kosovo and the violence that accompanied them was ``entirely predictable'' once the NATO air strikes began. He was right about that, but the NATO publicity line soon changed and his public relations handlers have told him to change his tune. So called ``ethnic cleansing'' and the crimes that have accompanied it are the direct and predictable result of attempting to redraw Balkan national boundaries along ethnic lines. Germany's former Chancellor Helmut Kohl bears much of the responsibility for setting off the present debacle. Germany underwrote establishing independent countries of Slovenia and Croatia back in the late 1980s as a means of extending German economic and geopolitical interests in the Balkans. But regardless of what Kohl may have intended at the time, the crisis his maneuver precipitated has long since spun out of his or anyone else's control. The plight of the hundreds of thousands Albanian refugees is reported daily. Less understood in the West is that there are some 400,000 Serbian refugees from the ethnic cleansing that was set off by the redrawing of national borders. Their number will almost certainly grow by tens or hundreds of thousands of new Serbian refugees from Kosovo in the months ahead. If you care about justice for ethnic Albanians and for Serbians, the way forward is to: Stabilize national and regional borders; prevent new fighting or persecution by any of the parties involved, particularly the KLA; demand some responsible reporting for a change from much of the major news media of the United States; and de-politicize accusations of war crimes and instead work to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of particular crimes. Here in the U.S. Congress, the time has come to re-examine the administration's claims about ``infrastructure warfare,'' ``information warfare,'' and the latest buzz word from the RAND Corporation, ``Netwar.'' These deserve close scrutiny because of their cost, their questionable legality under international treaties and U.S. law, and their use as a rationale for expansion of National Security State powers aimed at the people of the United States itself. Congress could begin by asking the administration how it has come to pass that what a Presidential commission terms a terrorist crime has now become an established part of U.S. military doctrine and target selection practices in the Balkans and in Iraq. There is much more to do, but I must close now. Thank you for your time and your patience with my talk.

Mr. KUCINICH

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Anthony C. Rego and Donna Kelly Rego, on the occasion of being honored with The John R. Cunin Lamplighter Humanitarian Award. This award is to honor philanthropic leaders whose involvement in business and community assists individuals and families in meeting their needs through programs of service and empowerment. Anthony C. Rego is a dedicated businessman is the supermarket industry. As a teenager, he started his career in the supermarket industry by working in the family grocery business. He helped the family business grow from two supermarkets to ten stores by dedicating 25 years of his life in the Rego's Stop-n-Shop Supermarket chain. His motivation and hard work has granted him several awards such as, Cleveland Food Dealers Association ``Retailer of the Year'' Award in 1983, the ``Leadership and Service Award'' in 1989 from the Associated Grocery Manufactures Representatives, and the Cleveland Food Dealers ``Honor Award'' in 1993. In 1997 Mr. Rego received the Ohio Grocers Association's ``Industry Service Award.'' Donna Kelly Rego presently serves as Chairperson of the MetroHealth System. For the past twenty-one years, Mrs. Rego has served as Pastoral Associate at St. Malachi Church and is presently engaged as an organization specialist working with religious and non-profit organizations. Also, Mrs. Rego is an educator and a certified pastoral Minister in the Diocese of Cleveland. Mrs. Rego currently chairs the Board of Trustees for the St. Malachi Center and serves as trustee for the Cleveland Health Network, the Center for Health Affairs, the Federation for Community Planning and the Benjamin Rose Center. She has received several awards such as: The Henry F. Meyers Award, Outstanding Women of Achievement (Cleveland YWCA, 1992), Belle Sherwin Award (League to Woman Voters 1993), Crain's Women of Influence (1997). I ask that my distinguished colleagues join me in commending Anthony C. Rego and Donna Kelly Rego for their lifetime dedication, service, and leadership to their community. Their large circle of family and friends can be proud of the significant contribution these prominent individuals have made. Our community has certainly been rewarded by the true service and uncompromising dedication of Anthony C. Rego and Donna Kelly Rego.